design

During this past week I was on vacation and started reading Seth Godin’s latest book “Linchpin“. One particular passage was very apropos to what I’ve been harping on about recently and I thought it would make sense to quote it here. In Linchpin, Godin defines art as a “personal gift that changes the recipient”, and …

Here I go probably oversimplifying again. There are two big problems with the design of Ubuntu (and probably most other big Linux distributions): the lack of a clear audience definition and the assumption that somehow we know what that audience wants and needs. Clearly it’s a bit silly sounding to attempt the second without knowing …

Ubuntu has revealed its new brand identity, and apparently it’s driven by the theme “light”. My initial thoughts are that while almost any step is likely a good one, I’m not overly enthusiastic about it. Maybe, and hopefully, that will change. Perhaps the first point I’d make is that while Ubuntu has never really committed …

Amongst a mailing list thread about Ubuntu’s alpha/beta wallpaper design, there was some lamenting about how it takes too long to agree on a wallpaper. And while I admittedly know absurdly little about the inner workings of the distro and its administration, I found the following comment quite funny: “I do agree that it takes …

Proof that if you spend your idle time sketching typefaces and logo wordmarks on enough scrap paper and notebooks, and if you leave enough notepads and pens lying around, there is a small chance that things will rub off. ;) We’ve had a great holiday season so far. Hopefully everyone else has too. ps. Criticize …

A little over two weeks ago, I got an email from one of the developers of a project called OpenPilot asking if I’d be interested in creating a logo for the project. OpenPilot is an open source project developing an autopilot system for model aircraft – interesting stuff. Always looking for a creative challenge to …

Are you creating something? Maybe it’s a blog post like this one. Maybe it’s a logo, or a desktop wallpaper. Are you writing a piece of software? Maybe you’re helping to create the next great Linux distro (HA!). Maybe you’re busy crafting an email to a prospective client or developing your own video podcast. Heck, …

A few weeks ago I decided to use the spare 50GB partition on my laptop to install Ubuntu Karmic. And while Crunchbang is still my main desktop at this point, I can say that Karmic is seductively gesturing me to switch. I like the look of my Karmic desktop. It’s pretty much bog standard although …

As someone who’s interested in design and always looking for good information on the subject, I have happened upon a gem of a resource: The Design Guy podcast. If you’re looking for a wonderfully polished podcast full of great information delivered in succinct and engaging way, look no further. The Design Guy (aka Anthony Rotolo) …

I’ve been having quite a few discussions lately about art, creativity and other artsy fartsy nonsense. But you know, if you’re going to spend time creating something, a blog post, a photograph, a piece or art, or music, even a programming project; why wouldn’t you approach it with a bit of your soul. It’s much …